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Back to Earth
"This is too weird for words!" - (Back to Earth, Part Two) '"Back to Earth"' (sometimes incorrectly called Series IX) is a three part mini-series of the science fiction sitcom ''Red Dwarf, which was broadcast on the British television channel Dave in three parts on April 10th through April 12th 2009. It is also the first new episodes of the series in almost ten years. Plot Part One Part one begins on Red Dwarf, nine years after the events of Series VIII. Lister (Craig Charles) and Rimmer (Chris Barrie) are in their sleeping quarters together, with Rimmer being a hard-light hologram now (seemingly the answer to the last Series's cliffhanger). Lister pulls of an elaborate joke just to cheese Rimmer off, he notes that they are onto their last tank of water, and starts to eat tomatoes he labouriously gathered from the supply deck. He explains that even though he hates and is allergic to tomatoes, it helps to save water. When Rimmer asks how, Lister sneezes due to allergies onto a piece of clothing on an ironing board, and uses the moisture to iron. Rimmer is disgusted, but figures out that Lister is just trying to get to him. After being lectured by Rimmer, Lister heads off with a bunch of flowers. He heads over to a grave marker, and we see Kochanski's picture (Chloë Annett). He then tries, but fails to read "Sense and Sensibility" to her grave. The Cat (Danny John-Jules) then leaps in soaked and miserable and the two head back to Rimmer. Cat tells of his misadventures near the remaining water supply, where he was attacked by a sea monster. Kryten (Robert Llewellyn) returns from his holiday spent in a broom cupboard and they all decide what to do. The crew go down into the tank in a diving bell to face it, minus Rimmer who weaseled his way into being up controlling the diving bell. Rimmer than accidentally makes them think they are being attacked, but then after he realizes that it isn't there he returns to his car magazine. He then turns on music and grooves to it as the sea monster, a squid, actually does attack the crew down on the diving bell. As they struggle, Rimmer continues to ignore them until he finally realizes and brings them back up. Once out, with Cat holding one of its tentacles Lister carved off, Kryten surmises that it is a dimension hopping leviathan, that chose the Red Dwarf water tank for safety reasons. There is a flash of light streaking up, and the leviathan is gone, presumably to another dimension. The crew get no rest as Kryten scans an incoming signal, and a holographic woman appears. She introduces herself as Katerina Bartikovsky (Sophie Winkleman), a Red Dwarf science officer who is here to take control of the situation, citing that Rimmer is failing as ship's hologram. Katerina makes plans to replace Rimmer and to bring Lister home to restart the human race. She intends to use the dimension hopping abilities of the leviathan's tentacle that the Cat brought back to create a dimension cutting machine with a mining laser. Rimmer tells Kryten to dig up dirt on his holographic rival, and Katerina puts her plans in motion. The episode ends with her using her device to open up a dimension hole. Part Two Katerina opens the portal, but the readings coming from the scanners appear nonsensical, claiming that the dimension they wish to travel to is invalid. Katerina elaborates that apparently they themselves "don't exist". The portal machine locks on instead to a valid alternate reality, stabilizing the portal. To see if the dimension is safe to enter, Katerina shuts down Rimmer's image and sends his light bee through first. Following Rimmer, Lister, Kryten and Cat all appear in a television shop on contemporary Earth in London and discover that their adventures over the past decade have been faithfully documented in our television show Red Dwarf. However, they quickly come to the conclusion that they themselves are not real, and are merely fictional characters; finding a DVD box for the "Back to Earth" special, they are also alarmed to discover that they are to die at the end. Reading the episode description further, they discover that they will track down their creators to plead for an extension, in "true Blade Runner fashion." Following the directions on the box, the crew visit a local science fiction merchandise shop and talk to a (remarkably unfazed) shop assistant, who regrets that he cannot give them the contact details of the actors playing them. Rimmer finds a piece of prop polymorph skin, which Kryten reveals contains the prop maker's name, Swallow. Lister finds a photo of the cast with Swallow, and Rimmer has Kryten enlarge, uncrop, zoom, pan and enhance the image until Swallow's work address is uncovered. Waiting for the bus to take them to Swallow, Rimmer is dismayed to encounter Katerina, who has arrived via a second portal. She proves her own undoing however, when she gloats that it is ethical to kill Rimmer as holograms are already dead, thus causing no moral conflict. Rimmer, thinking fast, takes her at her word and pushes the science officer in front of a bus, apparently causing her image to short out. Lister is slightly cheered when two children approach him on the bus and state that they believe him to be real, expressing their admiration for his better qualities which balance his slobbiness. They also theorize that Kochanski herself is not dead as Kryten claimed- he reported that she had been sucked out of an airlock- but that she stole a Blue Midget to escape Red Dwarf and Lister who was increasingly difficult to live with. Lister, shocked, realizes that although he has been dumped by Kochanski again, she might possibly be alive after all. Arriving at Swallow's address, the crew are disappointed that he knows little of how they will die. The prop maker does however give them an address for the "Big Boss", who knows all about their fate, and the car keys to a vehicle he stole after the end of Series IX (a fictional series). Driving in the Starbug-styled car ("Carbug") the crew arrive at Coronation Street. Part Three On the set of Coronation Street, the crew track down Craig Charles and try to get him to lead them to their creator, though he believes them to be hallucinations. Simon Gregson, however, leads them to their creator (Richard O'Callaghan), who prepares their ultimate ends: he plans to shoot them all dead as they flee. However, the crew overpower him and use his typewriter to manipulate reality, before realizing that even their creator's typewriter is governed by a higher power; that of a despair squid. As Cat, Kryten and Rimmer fade back to reality, Lister chooses to stay behind to reconcile with Kochanski, realizing that his one chance to have her again lies in this fake reality. Reawakening back on Red Dwarf, Cat, Kryten and Rimmer confirm that they were inked by the squid which had been living in the water tank, which Kryten realizes is a female version of the despair squid they had encountered some years previously that produces hallucinations providing great joy and hope rather than utter despair. Everything that had happened after they had been exposed was another group hallucination, which their previous encounter allowed them to overpower. Back in the false reality, Lister decides to return to Red Dwarf, despite Kochanski stating that he will never win her back in real life. However, Lister asserts his self-confidence in his ability and returns to his old life. Cat admits to being the one who brought the squid onboard Red Dwarf, after he had taken a baby squid to eat from their previous encounter with the despair squid, only for it to escape and never to be seen again, until now. Returning back to their sleeping quarters, the crew discuss the implications of this despair squid as being a female that uses its ink to intoxicate its attackers with joy and elation rather than despair. The crew decide to drop the squid off at the next ocean planet. They then joke about how the universe they visited where they are fictional characters in fact only exists because they created it and laughs at the "sad saps" who will forever believe that they are the real ones. Continuity and Homages Part One "Back to Earth" begins with the caption 'Nine Years Later' - however it is never established whether this is nine years after the events of "Only the Good..." or the events of the fictional Series X as mentioned in part two. Partly due to the specials being created to honour the twenty first anniversary of the show, "Back to Earth" is filled with references to the previous series, and even borrows a lot of plot elements. Following his resurrection in Series VIII, Rimmer is now once again a hard-light hologram, though no direct explanation is given (though he is chased by the grim reaper in the finale of the previous series). Red Dwarf is found to be still intact, and the Dwarfers back on it. Holly is offline due to water damage caused by Lister's carelessness, and the skutters have not finished drying him out. Red Dwarf herself now more closely resembles the model used in Series I-V, rather than the Series VIII nanobot improved reconstruction, though no explanation is given for the reversion in appearance. The ship is still deserted following the crew's abandonment of the vessel shown in "Only the Good...". In the scene where Lister visits Kochanski's grave, a picture of Mel Bibby can be seen to the far left of the picture of Kochanski. Bibby was the Production Designer for Red Dwarf Series III-VIII who died in 2002. A picture of George McIntyre, ship's hologram in "The End", can also just be seen to the left of Bibby. Katerina attempts to replace Rimmer on the grounds of his incompetence, this is the exact same circumstances surrounding the episode "Queeg". Part Two Rimmer states to Kryten "When I'm lord of the Star Fleet, Kryten, you'll pay for that remark". The "Star Fleet" has never been mentioned on screen before - the organization regulating space travel has always been the "Space Corps" or once in "Back in the Red" as the "Space Federation", the former is even mentioned earlier in the episode. "The Star Fleet" is, however, repeatedly mentioned in Naylor's solo novel Last Human. The episode makes constant references to a Series IX, described by some London characters as "the best one ever", in which Kochanski died off-screen and another polymorph attacked Lister whilst in the bath. Of course, Red Dwarf was never commissioned for a ninth season, as the BBC did not wish to renew the show after Series VIII. There are constant references to Blade Runner throughout and part two often mimics the plot line, referencing a group seeking their creators in order to extend their lifespan; artificially created skin, and the maker's identity printed on it; Deckard's photograph manipulation; origami figures; the creator of the replicant parts who is named Swallow in a reference to the Blade Runner equivalent Chew, and the dialogue spoken. On the DVD case stand can be seen the D-D-Don't Shoot! gorilla detective from Lister's T-Shirts in earlier seasons. Part Three Part three also mimics the plot of Blade Runner, with the Tyrell Corp. HQ featuring in London in place of Portcullis House and the crew talking to their "creator" (a Tyrell lookalike), and the scene of the crew falling through the glass after being shot. Kochanski also appears wearing her hair and clothes like Rachael. We discover that Kochanski did not die after all, and that the children in part two were correct - she left Red Dwarf and Lister. The hallucination of Kochanski reinforces that in reality, Kochanski is simply out of Lister's league, as mentioned by Lister's friends in "The End" and the Rimmer-Kochanski elsewhere in Season 1. The entire storyline is a virtual remake of "Back to Reality", in that the crew become trapped in a group hallucination where they are "not real" following exposure to despair squid ink. They are extremely quick to accept that this is the truth, in stark contrast to the shock they felt in the episode. There are also elements of Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers in the hallucination; the crew do not realize they are in a fantasy, due to the nature of the catalyst; there are mostly positive elements (in the success of survival, someone else to blame for their problems, and the ability to create a "happy ever after"); Lister is told that if he stays he will die, but he initially chooses to stay anyway, so he can be with Kochanski. Kryten deducts that the previous exposure to the despair squid in "Back to Reality" has given their immune systems a defense against its ink, and that is why they can voluntarily leave the group fantasy. Cat is revealed as the one who brought back the infant squid aboard Red Dwarf after the encounter on the ocean moon; he sings his "eat you little fishy" song to emphasize why. This hologrammatic Rimmer is hinted to be the "original" Rimmer, in his conversation with the creator regarding jokes of Rachel the sex doll, and his knowledge of the despair squid encounter. Although this could also be explained as he is a hologram they have managed to place the "original" Rimmer's memories into him as they are all kept on file in case his program broke down and he had to be brought back via a back up. Noteworthy Dialogue Part One Cat: I'm walking through the cargo deck, right? Minding my own damn business. When all of a sudden, you know that big tank on G deck? Lister: He means the water tank. Cat: Suddenly, there is a disturbance on the surface of the tank and this massive testicle shoots out of the water and grabs me by the throat. Lister: He means tentacle. Rimmer: I hope so. Lister: Your supposed to be minding the sonar Rimmer! You could have gotten us all killed! Rimmer: Is this about you again? It is isn't it. Cant you see right now I need some me time? My heart is still hammering, I dont know how I got through that. Lister: You wasn't even there! Rimmer: I was nearly there, that's close enough for me. Part Two Katerina: You think you outsmart me, yes? But you don't, I here. Cut a second hole. Rimmer: Science officer, excellent. So pleased you've caught up with us. Katerina: You gave me slip, I know. You not want to be erased. But you wont defeat me, I too smart. Rimmer: Erase me? I thought it was murder to kill a hologram. Katerina: No, hologram already dead. Morraly, ethically, hologram killing fine! Rimmer: Fair Enough. (Rimmer suddenly pushes her into oncoming traffic, and her image shorts out) Rimmer: Come on, we haven't got all day. Kryten: She didn't see that coming did she. I did. Part Three Kochanski: Where are you going? Lister: I have to leave, and get you back. Kochanski: The real me?! You'll never get me, I'm way out of your league! Lister: I thought that too, but, I was wrong. Kochanski: You were right! Lister: No. I'm pretty cool, I don't take any smeg, and even though I'm disgusting... sometimes I can be quite brave. Kochanski: You'll never get me. Lister: Yeah... I will! Cat: Whats going to happen to everybody in the reality we left? The guys all watching us on T.V? Kryten: Well, they will continue to exist as a consequence of us creating them in our hallucination, sir. Its quantum mechanics, every decision that is made creates a new universe, as do all dreams and hallucinations, its multi-verse 1.0.1. Rimmer: But those sad suckers will live out the rest of their lives convinced they're the real ones and were characters from a T.V show. Lister: And you know if you tell them the truth, you know what they would probably do? Rimmer: Laugh. Lister: Yeah. (They all Snicker) Lister: They probably would. Production In August 2008, Robert Llewellyn appeared on Seattle public television station, KCTS 9. In an interview, he revealed that BBC Worldwide, in collaboration with another party, had invested in one hour of new Red Dwarf to be filmed in early 2009. Grant Naylor Productions announced that it had been "on the cards" since February 2008. It subsequently transpired that UKTV channel Dave will screen four new 30-minute specials to celebrate the twenty-first anniversary of the show. The new episodes form part of an effort by Dave to screen more original programming, instead of just repeats. It was subsequently announced in January 2009 that the new special was to be a brand new two-part story titled Red Dwarf: Back to Earth, broadcast over the Easter weekend of that year along with a "making of" documentary and a one-off entitled Red Dwarf: Unplugged. On 20 February 2009, it was announced that "Back to Earth" would now be a three part special and that the unplugged episode had been postponed. Unplugged had been described by Craig Charles as "just the four of us - and some chairs - trying to improvise, or rather trying to remember, classic scenes". "Back to Earth" itself was not filmed in front of a studio audience in an effort to help keep the plot a secret. Although this was not the first time this has happened (for instance, Series VII was filmed entirely without a live audience), it is the first time a laughter track is not added for broadcast. It was also the first time Red Dwarf was filmed in high definition, this time using the red camera system. It is shot at a very high, 4000 pixel resolution. On 13 March 2009, SFX magazine announced that they had released a limited edition of issue 181 onto the newsstands. This edition was limited to fifty nationwide and featured the cast of the "Back to Earth" series instead of the standard Doctor Who cover. The magazine also plays an important part in the episode itself, Dave Bradley, editor of SFX is quoted as saying “Our cover plays a key part in the storyline,". Dave started a viral marketing campaign in March, 2009, when www.listerscominghome.co.uk was introduced to the public. The site shows a postcard, and reveals minor details of the show to the viewer. Dave also released several videos on their site, including a mock-advertisement for the "Carbug", a modified Smart Fortwo to fit the shape and style of Starbug. On-set videos also were released, along with short teasers (under ten seconds), with some 30 second teasers as well. Cast members have also written for the Dave blog, releasing small bits of information about the shows. "Back to Earth" is arguably the most noticed Red Dwarf production by the press in its history, having magazines and newspapers releasing promotional articles and images. Plot-wise, lead-actor, Chris Barrie was reported as saying, “Yes, Lister’s dream is about to come true. But like everything in Red Dwarf, nothing is straightforward.” On 4 March, 2009 it was revealed that actress Sophie Winkleman would be playing a character called Katerina Bartikovsky, a resurrected hologram of a Red Dwarf science officer intent on replacing Rimmer (also a hologram once again). Further plot details were explained in issue 181 of the British science fiction magazine, SFX. It was revealed that the episode is set nine years after the events of "Only the Good...", Kochanski is dead and Holly is offline due to water damage caused by Lister leaving a tap running. It has been noted that the final episode in particular is heavily influenced by Blade Runner, 'the film that inspired series creators Rob Grant and Doug Naylor to put pen to paper in the first place', though questions have been raised over the artistic success of this homage. Reception The first episode achieved overnight ratings of 2.06 million viewers, however this fell to 937,000 for the second episode, a loss of over half the audience. This was was still a huge success for multichannel station Dave, the show was the second most-watched multichannel programme of the day. Critical reaction was mixed, with many saying that the first episode was sparse on jokes although the second was funnier: TV Scoop described the first as having "some of the most lazy writing I've ever encountered on a TV show" and being "spread thickly with self-referential, self-indulgent pap". Another contributor to this site considered the first part to be "thin, slow, short on gags, and strangely lacking in atmosphere", though stating that the second episode contained "green shoots of improvement". TV Scoop also criticized the over-use of Blade Runner references, turning it from a homage to a rip-off in their minds. The lack of a laugh track was not very well received by fans, and fan reactions to Back to Earth as whole where mixed, ranging from positive to negative depending on who you listen to. Guest Stars * Sophie Winkleman as Katerina Bartikovsky * Jeremy Swift as Noddy. * Richard O'Callaghan as the Creator. * Richard Woo as Swallow. References * 1999 - 2009 bridge External links *[http://dave.uktv.co.uk/library/red-dwarf/ Official Dave Back to Earth Blog] *Official Red Dwarf Website *Dave Promotional Videos *Official Trailer Category:Back to Earth Category:Episodes Category:Series